We occasionally have students requesting to bypass CHEM 163 to start 261, due to several program admissions which require two quarters of gen chem (rather than three) such as the Naturopathic Medicine program at Bastyr.
We completely understand, but we do want to make sure you are prepared with the information that you would have gotten in CHEM& 163 to connect to concepts in CHEM& 261, as it is viewed as foundational material.
Check out this resource for a list of topics we cover in CHEM& 163. The major topics in CHEM& 163 you’ll want to review before taking CHEM& 261 (just general concepts – don’t worry about calculations as much- what you need will be covered in class):
-Thermodynamics, particularly delta G = delta H – T delta S
-Redox (oxidation/reduction) in terms of electrons lost/gained (not a huge emphasis – more will be covered in organic chem in a specialized way)
-Chemical equilibria , in general the idea of reversible reactions and how we quantify them in terms of the equilibrium constant, K.
-Acid base equilibria in terms of strong vs weak acids (in terms of Ka or pKa) – this is a fairly large topic – some review would help, and we’ve posted some videos on this page: https://www.bellevuecollege.edu/chemistry/organic-chemistry-videos/
It would be a good idea to get the organic chem textbook early unless you plan to use the digital version that you can access once tuition is paid and the course is set up. You could access free versions like this and just start browsing the first few chapters to familiarize yourself with some of the gen chem topics, like chapters 1 and 2 on this resource: https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Organic_Chemistry/Organic_Chemistry_(LibreTexts)
Most of what you need is a good understanding of chemical bonding and structure (formal charge, bond and molecular polarity, intermolecular forces is very critical), which you would have gotten in CHEM& 161/162 at BC (or most general chemistry courses at other colleges).
Once you’ve check out the resources and you’re ok with continuing on to CHEM& 261, please contact the Program Chair to request a permission code to take CHEM& 261 without having completed CHEM& 163. Include your reason for not taking CHEM& 163 and include your ctcLink ID and in which section of CHEM& 261 you wish to enroll.
Last Updated February 14, 2023